Serb war 'brothel chief' arrested

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (CNN) -- A former Bosnian Serb soldier has been arrested by NATO troops for his alleged role in enslaving Muslim girls as young as 12 for sexual exploit.

Radovan Stankovic was detained on Tuesday afternoon near the town of Foca where he is accused of effectively running six years earlier a brothel for Serb soldiers against the will of Muslim women.

Nobody was injured in the operation in the hilly eastern part of Bosnia which happened at about 3 p.m..

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Stankovic, 32, was indicted by the International War Crimes Tribunal for Yugoslavia in 1996 on charges of crimes against humanity including rape, sexual assault and enslavement of women and young girls, some of whom were as young as 12.

A spokesman for the Stabilisation Force (SFOR), which carried out the arrest, said Stankovic was in the process of being transferred to the U.N. tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Stankovic is accused of organising and directing the enslavement, rape and inhuman treatment of the women for the benefit of Bosnian Serb soldiers in the crack Vukovar paramilitary unit.

Up to nine women and girls were held in the house for nearly three months between early August and late October 1992.

SFOR alleged in a statement on its Web site: "This house was run like a brothel by Mr. Stankovic to serve the men of Pero Elez's paramilitary unit."

NATO has used the arrest as an example of its "determination" to arrest those indicted for war crimes.

It has been criticised for not having arrested the two high-profile fugitives, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

NATO Secretary-General George Robertson was quoted in the statement as saying: "There is no place to hide for anyone accused by the tribunal of these horrific crimes."

He added: "I call on all remaining fugitives, in particular Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, to surrender to the tribunal.

"Each fugitive sent to The Hague makes it easier to build a lasting peace in the Balkans."

The commander of SFOR, Lieutenant General John Sylvester, said: "Your time is running out."